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Monday, June 16, 2014

Statement from London Bulls

The following is a statement from London Bulls:

Around 20 members of the London Bulls attended a meeting on Saturday 14th June, arranged at short notice to discuss recent developments concerning Hereford United Football Club. The London Bulls welcomed Paul Stevens from the Hereford United Supporters Trust (HUST), who kindly travelled to the meeting from Hereford to provide an update and to answer questions.

After a lively and informative session those present unanimously agreed that they had no confidence in the new owner, Tommy Agombar. This stemmed from:-

• a number of broken promises made in relation to payment of the staff and other creditors;

•the failure to meet the promise made to the Football Conference in relation to payment of the Football creditors, and the subsequent expulsion of the Club from the Conference;

•the statement that he was unaware of the scale of the debt (now estimated at £1.3m to £1.5m) when he bought the Club, even though he told fans at the Bedfont trial match that he was aware of the debt at the time of purchase;

•the unseemly haste in seeking to persuade Herefordshire Council to transfer the leases on the ground to his company;

•a failure to communicate in any meaningful way with supporters, and the cancellation of the Fans Forum.

Members present unanimously agreed that Mr Agombar should now be pressed to pay the outstanding debts and the bond required by the Southern League, so that the Club could continue in its current form and play in a pyramid league for 2014/2015. Members also noted that if he did not make such payments, and if no other investors were prepared to meet the debts, the Club would inevitably face liquidation as a result of winding up orders from former manager Martin Foyle (and possibly other players), as well as HMRC and other creditors. It should be noted that the London Bulls fully accepted that Mr Foyle, the players and staff were absolutely justified in claiming their contractual entitlements, and attached no blame to them for the Club’s plight.

Given that Mr Agombar has so far broken promises to make payments to creditors and, given that he is also reported to have said that he will not meet the debts, the London Bulls believed that regrettably, liquidation of the Club and the formation of a phoenix club now seemed to be inevitable. As such, it was important that work was undertaken quickly to prepare for this eventuality.

The London Bulls recognised that all fans would be united in wanting to see Hereford United play football at the highest possible level in the coming and future seasons, and this aim will be assisted if Mr Agombar urgently clarifies his intentions. The London Bulls call on him to do so by Friday 20 June or face a call for a boycott from the group.

Finally the London Bulls called on all fans to conduct debate about the Club in a reasonable and respectful manner, avoiding personal abuse and insults. The London Bulls also held a collection for staff and urged all fans to do what they could to support those members of staff who were still owed wages.